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Bizarro Earth

California's Tornado Alley? Third Twister This Year for Colusa County



Northern California is looking a lot like Tornado Alley these days.

Just north of Sacramento, two reported weak tornadoes struck this week in Colusa County, which did not have a single tornado report from 1950 to 2010, according to the Weather Channel. Colusa has now had three reported tornadoes this year and four in the past five months. That's some serious action for a state that averages about five tornadoes per year.

No witnesses saw the touchdown of yesterday's (March 23) reported EF-0 tornado - the weakest ranking with winds between 65 and 85 mph (105 and 137 kph) - but people did see a funnel cloud and six homes reported damage, the Sacramento Bee reported. Another funnel cloud was captured on YouTube on Monday (March 21).

Bizarro Earth

US: 1000s Of Fish Die In Hanna Park Lake

Dead Fish
© News4JaxThousands of fish turn up dead in the lake at Hannah Park. Scientists say golden algae caused the fish kill.

Atlantic Beach, Florida -- Dozens of dead fish have risen to the surface at a lake in Hanna Park. The floating fish have produced a foul smell and an eerie site.

"I've seen a couple of people biking around, but as soon as they get to this area, they turn right back around," visitor Heather Lenier said.

The sight and smell is enough to keep people away from the lake.

Scientists said an outbreak of golden algae is responsible for the death of thousands of fish. The algae is producing a toxic chemical. When fish come in contact with the tainted water, their blood cells literally explode.

"Those cells that carry oxygen are being ruptured," biologist Dana Morton said. "Oxygen is not getting to the fish, and the fish look like they are suffocating, which they really are."

Morton said that as harmful as the algae is for fish, it is harmless for humans.

Radar

Burma earthquake: More than 60 killed

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© Agence France-PresseA rising toll and damage across both sides of the Burma Thailand border has followed the quake
More than 60 people have died in a magnitude-6.8 earthquake in Burma which struck near the Lao and Thai borders.

It happened at 1355 GMT on Thursday and was centred about 70 miles (110 km) from the northern Thai city of Chiang Rai, the US Geological Survey said.

It was felt 800km to the south in the Thai capital Bangkok, and in the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi.

The quake was shallow, at a depth of 6.2 miles (10km). There are fears the casualties could be much higher.

Nuke

Best of the Web: Yellow Rain Falls In Tokyo? Pollen Excuse Exact Same As Chernobyl Yellow Rain Lie

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© Unknown
While the Japanese government continues to say that the yellow rain seen in Japan was simply "pollen," many have been reminded of a very similar occurrence after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.

Almost on que, the Japan Meteorological Agency has confirmed the rain to be pollen after receiving hundreds of calls from concerned citizens.

The ''yellow rain'' seen Wednesday in the Kanto region surrounding Tokyo was caused by pollen, not radioactive materials as many residents had worried, the Japan Meteorological Agency said Thursday, reported the Japan Times.

That's right, according to so called experts, enough pollen to cause hundreds to report their findings, rained down on Tokyo at the same time as a devastating nuclear disaster has released high levels of radiation at least 20km from the nuclear plant.

This explanation has reminded many of the yellow rain that hit after the Chernobyl disaster.

Fish

Nebraksa: Ravenna Lake suffers massive fish kill

Experts call it a winter-kill. Onlookers call it devastating. Thousands of fish - much more than originally thought - are now dead in Ravenna Lake.

Game and Parks officials said the extended ice and snow coverage this year blocked the sun and killed aquatic plants. Without plants producing enough oxygen an estimated 3800 fish suffocated.

The massive amount of algae you see may also have been a factor.
Nebraska Game and Parks Commissioners said they'll decide what to do next in April.

Bizarro Earth

US: Floods push 325,000 pounds of lead into Idaho's Lake Coeur d'Alene

An estimated 352,000 pounds of lead from leftover mine pollution has washed into Lake Coeur d'Alene in northern Idaho, an official with the U.S. Geological Survey says.

Hydrologist Greg Clark said the lead washed into the lake on Jan. 18 as a result of a rain-on-snow event that caused flooding.

"We haven't seen those kinds of flows in quite a while," Clark, an associate director of the Idaho Water Science Center in Boise, told The Spokesman-Review. "We end up with a lot of metals - lead in particular - transported to the lake during those types of events."

The newspaper reports in a story published Thursday that's the weight equivalent of about 70 pickups.

The lead is left over from a century of mining. The Environmental Protection Agency last summer proposed cleaning up 300 old mine sites and contaminated groundwater areas in the region.

But Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter, other elected officials and area residents say the $1.3 billion price is too high and the cleanup will take too long.

Bizarro Earth

Sulfur Dioxide Plume Erupts from Vanuatu Volcano

Vanuatu Volcano_2
© NOAASulfur Dioxide Plume Erupts from Vanuatu Volcano
Vanuatu Volcano
© NOAAWide View of Sulfur Dioxide Plume Erupting from Vanuatu Volcano
On the tiny island of Tanna, Vanuatu in the South Pacific is one of the world's most active volcanoes: Mt Yasur. As the NASA Aura satellite orbited overhead today (March 18, 2011), the Ozone Mapping Instrument detected a large sulfur dioxide plume being emitted from the volcano. OMI, though designed primarily for monitoring the ozone layer, is an important tool in monitoring volcanoes. NOAA's Satellite Analysis Branch operates the Washington Volcanic Area Advisory Center (WVAAC) in conjunction with the National Weather Service to issue volcanic ash advisories and alerts.

These advisories are critical for air quality monitoring, but even more so for diverting air traffic in the impacted areas. Volcanic ash, if ingested by jet engines can cause significant damage, and even loss of the aircraft. It is estimated that NOAA's ash monitoring saves the aviation industry between $100 and 200 million per year. The Mt Yasur volcano is situated in the Wellington (New Zealand) VAAC, but NOAA SAB processes and monitors plumes from many volcanoes around the world who's ash might enter the WVAAC airspace.

Bizarro Earth

First North Pole Ozone Hole Forming?

Arctic Ozone
© Picture Press / AlamyStratospheric clouds in the Arctic (file picture) worsen ozone loss, experts say.

Spawned by strangely cold temperatures, "beautiful" clouds helped strip the Arctic atmosphere of most of its protective ozone this winter, new research shows.

The resulting zone of low-ozone air could drift as far south as New York, according to experts who warn of increased skin-cancer risk.

The stratosphere's global blanket of ozone - about 12 miles (20 kilometers) above Earth - blocks most of the sun's high-frequency ultraviolet (UV) rays from hitting Earth's surface, largely preventing sunburn and skin cancer.

But a continuing high-altitude freeze over the Arctic may have already reduced ozone to half its normal concentrations - and "an end is not in sight," said research leader Markus Rex, a physicist for the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in Bremerhaven, Germany.

Preliminary data from 30 ozone-monitoring stations throughout the Arctic show the degree of ozone loss was larger this winter than ever before, Rex said.

Before spring is out, "we may even get the first Arctic ozone hole ... which would be a dramatic development - one which would make it into coming history books," he said.

"It's too early to call, but stay tuned."

Bizarro Earth

UK: Hundreds of Dead Starfish Wash Up on Talybont Beach

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© Erfyl LLoyd Davies PhotographyThe common starfish is found around the coast of the British Isles.
Several hundred dead starfish have been found washed up on a north Wales beach.

It comes following the discovery at Talybont, between Harlech and Barmouth in Gwynedd.

Council maritime officer Barry Davies said it is common for starfish to be washed ashore during spring tides but it was not clear why they had migrated so far up the shoreline.

Barmouth harbour committee chairman said an inquiry is needed.

Councillor Trefor Roberts said: "What I would like is a full scientist report on what caused the deaths of these starfish."

Mr Davies said he did not think anything suspicious has led to the deaths of the starfish.

Bizarro Earth

US: Tornadoes Rip Through Western Pennsylvania

Tornadoes Rip Through Western Pennsylvania